


Soulmates AU

by hufflebecks



Category: Dalton Academy Series
Genre: Multi, Soulmates, all the characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:33:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24644872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hufflebecks/pseuds/hufflebecks
Summary: For the 2020 Dalton Big Bang - Soulmates AU.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Soulmates AU

_“When you wake up on your thirteenth birthday, there is one or two names on your wrists. These names will only be seen by you. These are your soul-mates, the people you love with all your heart.”_

_“What if my name isn’t on them?”_

_“Sometimes that happens and it’s okay. You will always love them but you’ll need to accept that they don’t feel the same way.”_

* * *

Colby hadn’t remembered to check until around lunchtime, too busy with birthday celebrations in the morning and then basketball practice with his friends. It wasn’t until someone asked him, “So, what name did you get?” that he even remembered. He looked at his left wrist and read inwardly “ _Evan Brightman_ ” then noticed his right wrist said “ _Ethan Brightman_.”

He had never met someone who apparently had two names. Some of his friends claimed it but he didn’t believe them. He also didn’t know anyone in his friend group that was gay, so with quick and careful thinking he replied, “I don’t recognize the name, some girl named Mary Smith.”

“Damn, generic,” his friend shrugged, “Good luck with that.” then his friend threw the ball back to him and the game continued, but Colby’s mind was no longer on the game but on the names.

* * *

Ace had woken up early on his birthday to be able to check his name in secret, knowing his parents would likely ask about it the second they saw him. He wanted a private moment to process it alone first.

“ _Jake Paige_.”

Ace froze in complete shock. He was told growing up he’d probably not recognize the name of his soulmate, that they may not even meet until their twenties or thirties, that he should date around and not worry about it until he met the person naturally.

But he knew Jake. God did he know Jake. Jake Paige, the little brother of his best friend, and his current fascination, who was coming over in just a few hours with Riley and a few other friends to celebrate his birthday. Jake who’d stay tonight in his room for a sleepover.

How would he manage?

* * *

Austin had set his alarm for just after midnight and shone his light onto his wrists right away. He couldn’t see any names. Frowning, he looked to his alarm clock to check if it was the right day and he saw the blinking 12:04 shining back at him.

Checking a second and third time came up with nothing. Panicked, he left his room and went to the master bedroom, tentatively knocking. Cordelia opened the door tiredly after a moment and asked, “Yes, Austin? You should be in bed.”

“I don’t have a name,” Austin told her softly, trying not to sound as scared as he was.

Cordelia blinked at him then turned and called, “Nelson? Wake up.”

“What’s wrong?” The man asked, sitting up in bed to stare into the darkness at the shadows of his wife and son.

“Austin hasn’t got a name,” Cordelia explained, keeping her voice low and even.

“.…oh."

* * *

“Whose name did you get again?” Bailey asked at the breakfast table on his birthday, looking across at Joshua who was pouring his cereal.

“I didn’t get a name,” Josh told him truthfully, figuring since Bailey was now 13, he wouldn’t judge him quite so harshly, “Clean wrists for me. Why, who’d you get? It’s okay if you’re gay too, Bay.”

“I…” Bailey hesitated, trying to figure if his brother was telling him the truth, but Joshua rarely ever lied to him so he had no choice but to take him by his word.

“Bay?” Joshua looked worried now as he paused pouring the milk to look at his little brother.

“I didn’t get anyone either,” Bailey admitted, feeling ashamed. But Josh just smiled kindly and said, “Don’t worry about it, Bay! I see it as a good thing, we don’t have to worry as much!”

Bailey didn’t feel that way yet though - he’d been told how important and life-changing the name was and he didn’t even get one.

* * *

Blaine was terrified. There was a boys name on his wrist - he knew it was a boys name because he googled it a few times to see if there was any chance “ _Kurt Hummel_ ” could be a girls name but was disappointed. He had only recently started thinking he liked boys, but to have it confirmed was scary. How many rants had he heard his father curse out against gays? How many times had his schoolmates used the word “gay” as an insult?

The only saving grace he had was that nobody else would ever see the name. He could lie and say a girls name, pretend to fall in love with a girl during high school and then pretend he’s too busy being an adult to date when he’s older. Nobody would ever know. Maybe he’d meet this Kurt one day, but he wasn’t going to hold his breath.

* * *

Casey hated the name on her wrist. “ _Derek Seigerson_ ”. God, she left him behind, why was he coming back into her life? Sure, they’d gotten along alright but by the time she moved away, he was becoming a bit of an asshole and she wasn’t disappointed that she wouldn’t see him again.

But that didn’t seem to be true if he was really her soulmate. How would they meet again? Would he still be an asshole or would he be the fun little kid she was friends with when they were 10? She’d hoped when she woke up that she had a better name on her wrist, something like a prince or a celebrity so she’d live in fame and riches for her entire life, not Derek.

* * *

Charlie stared at his wrist in complete confusion for the umpteenth time that day. He wasn’t gay in the slightest so why did he have a boys name on his wrist? He even gave it some serious thought, wondering if maybe he could learn to be gay but it wasn’t working. He just felt disgusted when he thought about kissing a boy. He wanted to hold hands with girls, marry a young woman, have babies with a wife.

" _Justin Bancroft_."

“You look confused, son,” Roger asked him later that evening while Charlie was having some birthday cake, “Is it about the name?”

“Yeah,” Charlie admitted, “Can a name be wrong?”

“No,” Roger says, “Not that I’ve ever heard of. Do you want to tell me the name?”

“Not really,” Charlie says with a sigh then asks, “Does it have to be like… love? Like kissing and stuff?”

Roger laughed a little at that and said, “Most of the time, yes, but it can be whatever you both make of it. That’s down to the two of you when you meet.”

Charlie nodded, staring at the name for longer then sighed again, wondering just how this was going to work.

* * *

“No name!!” Clay yelled at 3 in the morning on his thirteenth birthday, “DAD!”

A few moments pass then his dad opens his door, “Clay, stop the yelling!”

“Dad!” Clay leaps off the bed, shoving his arm towards his dad, “Look!”

“Clay stop,” Mr. Rizzo sighs and catches his son before he accidentally slaps his face, “I couldn’t see it even if there was anything there. Check your other one.”

Clay looks up and down both his arms but they were clean, nothing there at all.

“What does it mean, dad!?” Clay seems alarmed.

“It means you don’t have a soulmate,” Mr. Rizzo is patient, just wanting to go back to bed and sleep, “We’ll talk about it more after school, okay?”

He knew that wasn’t going to work - Clay was awake now and there was no getting the kid back to school so he added, “Just… keep it quiet, okay? I have an early shift.”

Clay watched his dad leave then jumped back onto his bed to search his arms again, just in case.

* * *

The name on Danny’s wrist seemed familiar somehow, but he knew he didn’t know the person. “ _Wesley Hughes_ ”. It just felt right, felt like the name fits right on his tongue and written on his body. Danny smiled at the name, not caring for a single moment that his name was of a boy. He traced the name delicately along his wrist, seeing the way it covered one of his newer scars, almost like it was a bandaid trying to heal him.

“Wesley,” Danny whispered into the darkness. It was the evening of his birthday, the day forgotten by his parents as they screamed over who could keep which furniture or vehicle in the divorce. But Danny found he didn’t mind so much this time, not with the name in his mind. It made his day a little better, knowing he wasn’t going to be alone for life.

He couldn’t wait to meet Wesley.

* * *

Katherine had kept a set of bangles on her wrists daily for seven months until David turned 13 as well. They’d been together for almost two years, and they were both anxious to see if they were each others soul-mates. Katherine promised to never peek until they could check together on his birthday. It was hard for her, not the temptation so much as not accidentally seeing it. She wore a lot of long sleeves.

On his birthday, which she’d slept over the night before, she waited anxiously for him to wake up so they could read the names at the same time. When he woke up, they stared at each other in the dim of his bedroom and both seemed to hesitate, not looking down yet.

“I’m scared,” Katherine admitted.

“Me too,” David says with a nod then smiles at her, “But even if we don’t have each other's names, nothing will change, okay?”

“Okay,” Katherine breathes as she slides off the bangles without looking, “On the count of three?”

“On three.”

“One… two… three…” Katherine whispered then looked at her wrists.

Written in perfect letters on her right wrist read “ _David Sullivan_ ” and her eyes welled up with happy tears immediately. “I have your name.”

David simultaneously looked down at his own wrists. On the left wrist was “ _Katherine Rivers_ ” but on the right was “ _Wesley Hughes_ ”. David froze.

“.….David?” Katherine’s smile faded, her eyes locked on his face.

“Your name is there,” David whispered as he moved his left wrist for a moment but he was also focused on the right one more.

“You have two?” Katherine asks voice shocked.

“I do,” David’s voice shook a little, “I have yours and a boys name.”

“Oh…”

* * *

“ _Casey Lambert_ ”.

“Who?” Derek looked at the name when he’d woken up, “Who the fuck is Casey?”

He knew realistically he’d not recognize the name - it was rare for someone to know their soulmate already but he’d still hoped anyway.

He looked over at his friend who’d stayed the night, “Dude, is Casey a chicks name or a dudes name?”

“Both I think,” his friend replied tiredly, “You know any Casey’s?”

“Not anymore,” Derek said after checking that he just had the one name, which he did. “I did a few years ago, but she wasn’t a Lambert.”

“Damn, sucks bro,” his friend says as he gets up, “You’re probably gay.”

Derek threw a pillow at him, which the friend laughed and dodged.

* * *

“So, whose name did you get son?” Troy asked when Drew joined them in the kitchen on the morning of his birthday, “I hope it was just one.”

Drew nodded, “Just one, but I don’t know how to pronounce it.”

“An international girl? Lucky you!” Troy smiled and clapped his son on the back, “Write it out for me, I’ll probably know how to say it.”

So Drew wrote the name “ _Satoru Kogo_ ” on a piece of paper and slid it to his dad who looked at it for a moment then said, “It’s Japanese I believe, but I think…” he paused then hummed, “That might be a boys name.”

Drew froze and stared at his dad but Troy was quick to say, “I could be wrong, my Japanese is a bit rusty. Doesn’t matter anyway, son. If your soulmate is a guy, I support you, you know that right?”

Drew didn’t reply, just dropped his eyes and looked down.

* * *

“Dwight! Dwight!” Alan shook Dwight awake, “It’s your birthday!”

Dwight grumbled a bit then pulled Alan down into a hug, “Then let me sleep, Alan.”

“Did you get a name?” Alan asks, squirming in Dwight’s arms.

“I haven’t even opened my eyes yet,” Dwight said tiredly to which Alan says, “Then open them, silly!”

Dwight blearily opens his eyes but doesn’t check his arms, not really wanting to. He finds the entire thing creepy and had worn long sleeves to bed over his bandaged up wrists. He wasn’t hurt, he just hadn’t wanted to see.

It was easy to distract Alan, asking if he can bring him his gift and Alan had happily run off to go get it. Somehow Dwight managed to avoid the topic all day, then all week, and soon everyone forgot that Dwight hadn’t mentioned it. After Alan had died, nobody ever asked Dwight again. He always kept something covering his wrists - tape, bandages, sleeves, bracelets, anything to not look. He’d not look for years.

* * *

The twins weren’t nervous when they woke up on their thirteenth birthday. They knew they’d have each others names on their wrists, it was practically guaranteed. Maybe there’d be a second or even third name that they both shared, though they’d be happy with just each other.

“Ready?” Evan grins at his brother and Ethan returns the look, “Ready!”

They put their arms out in front of them and looked down.

“ _Colby Blake_.”

That was it. One name. No “Evan Brightman”, no “Ethan Brightman”, just the name of a boy neither of them had met.

“Colby?” Ethan asks and Evan returns it just as confused, “I have that name too.”

“Who’s that?” They ask out loud at the same time.

* * *

“Oh fuck no!” Jake yelled.

He’d avoided looking for hours after he’d woken up, figuring he’d have no name at all. Who’d want to date him? Who’d let him have a soul-mate?

But somehow this was worse. “ _Ace Gallagher_ ”. His brothers best friend, the one who always seemed to be around these days, the one who had become almost like his own best friend this past year.

The one he stared at while his heart beat wildly in his chest, the one he seemed to think about every night before he fell asleep.

Yeah, that Ace Gallagher. Jake wanted nothing less.

* * *

“Don’t ever tell anyone the name on your wrist,” Julian’s parents had told him, “It’ll ruin you and your career if you do. If anyone ever asks you, tell them it’s a secret. Even if you fall in love with someone, soul-mate or not, never even tell them.”

Julian had been told this almost weekly from the time he was eleven onwards, they made sure he’d never forget. He was too famous to be putting a single name out there - that it’d attract crazies, that it’d ruin any relationship he had. It’d impact his career.

So when Julian read his wrists on the morning of his thirteenth birthday, he knew he’d never be able to tell. Never tell the world about the names of the two boys that swirled over his veins, never tell a single soul, boy or girl, that he was fated to love two men one day.

“ _Sebastian Smythe_ ” on his left and “ _Riley Paige_ ” on his right.

When he was asked at his first interview after turning 13, he smiled with all the charm he had and answered, “I’m afraid that’s for me and them to know when it happens. Next question please.”

* * *

Justin hated himself more than he’d ever had before. He was angry at himself, at the world, at the stupid fates. He’d wanted no name at all, he’d all but prayed for it daily but yet there was a name.

“ _Charles Amos_.” It was written so nicely on his wrist that it felt like a taunt. A joke from up above to punish him.

‘You’re gonna fall in love with a boy and you’re gonna enjoy it,’ the voice inside him mocked as he grabbed his baseball bat from the floor and stormed out of his room to take his rage out on something or someone else.

* * *

Laura had been too excited to sleep the night before her birthday, wanting to wait until midnight until her mother reminded her that it only showed up when she was asleep. So she’d reluctantly fallen asleep around six am, waking up a couple of hours later to her alarm. She turned it off and quickly looked at her arms, grinning big before her brain could even catch up on what the name was.

“ _Sadie Moore_.”

She didn’t know the name but she felt in love immediately. She’d known she was gay for a while, though she’d have been happy if it was a boys name on their too. She wasn’t Justin - she didn’t like to fight against fate, knew that she’d be happy with the name was gifted to her. She hopes she’d meet Sadie soon.

* * *

“Uh mom?” Nicky asks cautiously, “We want to ask you something.”

Mrs. Holmes looks at her twin boys and nods, “Go on.”

“Were we really born today?” Laurie asks a bit confused, “Neither of us got our names.”

“Neither of you?” Mrs. Holmes frowns then looks to the clock as if it had an answer, “You were both definitely born today. Did either of you get proper sleep?”

“Yes,” Laurie protests, “At least I did.”

“I did too,” Nicky says then asks, “Maybe it was a different timezone?”

“You were both born here,” Mrs. Holmes sighs then says, “Some people don’t get names, we know that.”

“But both of us?” Laurie questions, “That can’t be right.”

“Sweetie, I don’t make the rules,” she says patiently, “And it’s not the end of the world. You’ll both find love.”

Nicky looked sad but Laurie just looked mad. They’d both been waiting for years for their names and to get nothing hurt.

* * *

“Who’d you get?” Evan asks.

“Is it us?” Ethan adds, voice excited.

“No, it’s not you. Why would it be you?” Logan shot back with an eye roll and snatched his arm away from them. It wasn’t like they could see the name.

It’s not like _he_ could see the name either.

“Do you know him?” Ethan asks with a grin, “Is it even a boy?”

Logan pushed him away and said, “You two are getting on my nerves, go away already. I don’t have to tell you.”

“Why not?” Evan whined, “We told you!”

“Because you both can’t keep your mouths shut,” Logan pointed out, “Maybe I don’t want anyone to know.”

“But we’re your best friends,” Ethan says with a mock pout.

“We won’t tell anyone, promise,” Evan adds.

“No, now please stop talking about it.” Logan snapped.

Evan and Ethan shared a look then decided to drop it.

* * *

Merril stared quietly at the name on her right wrist, tracing over it delicately. She wondered about the boy, wondered if he would ever accept her for who she was. She wondered where she’d meet him and when - if it was soon or if she was older. She wondered if he’d treat her kindly.

“ _Spencer Willis_.”

The name felt nice to say, and she smiled a little whenever she remembered it through the day. Nobody asked her about the name, though Uncle Simon did catch her smiling at some point and knew she’d been given hope for her future. He had worried she’d have no name, and that it might have broken her more.

* * *

Micah almost laughed reading the name on his wrist that morning, pointing a small light down. It was early before the sun had even risen and he couldn’t help but feel happy. He’d been worried it was going to be a girls name, that his recent thoughts had been wrong but seeing a boys name was nice, it made him feel like he was still in control.

“ _Shane Anderson_.” The name read, and he whispered it into the dark of the night. It felt nice to say. He settled back into bed with a smile on his lips, soon dreaming about a vague figure of a boy that he knew must’ve been the Shane boy.

* * *

_“Shane Anderson”_ the name read and Reed’s breath caught in his throat. His mother was staring at him expectantly, and he was just thankful he’d practised what to say, lying easily, “It says, Gemma Lane.”

“Gemma Lane? Is that a girl you know?” Hilde asks and Reed shook his head, “I don’t know any Gemma’s.”

Hilde made a noise of discontent then said, “Alright, well, go get ready for school. Don’t even worry about it, you won’t meet her until after college anyway.”

Reed knew that was a lie, but he wouldn’t call her on it - he’d just lied as well.

Shane. A boy. Reed was going to fall in love with a boy.

* * *

Riley laughed out loud when he read his name. Out of everyone he knew, nobody ever got anyone famous. Some of them claimed to of course, but they were always lying. Not everyone could have Zac Efron or Angelina Jolie’s names on their wrists.

_“Julian Larson-Armstrong”_

There was no mystery there, there was only one boy with that name and Riley had grown up knowing his face from magazines and TV appearances.

Julian wasn’t even gay, apparently, and neither was Riley for that matter! Riley knew the whole soul-mate thing was bullshit but now this just confirmed it.

When Ace asked him later that day who was his soul-mate, Riley just rolled his eyes, “Don’t have one, you know that.”

“You really didn’t get given a name?” Ace asks.

“Oh I did, I just don’t believe in it all. I’ll choose who I love, not some stupid tattoo.”

* * *

“Who’s _Laura Bancroft_?” Sadie asked out loud later that afternoon when Lucas and Dwight had come over, “Either of you know her?”

“You got a girl?” Lucas frowned.

“Yeah, her name is Laura,” Sadie replies, staring at the delicate black letters on her left wrist.

“There’s the Bancrofts in the Royal Family, maybe Laura’s one of them?” Dwight suggests and Sadie grabs her phone to look it up.

“Huh, there is a Laura Bancroft,” Sadie clicks onto images and stares at the few photos there was. An older teen and a younger girl who must’ve been Laura, taken at some of the many royal celebrations over the years.

“She’s cute,” Sadie announced with a grin, looking towards Lucas and Dwight, “I got myself a cute soulmate!”

* * *

“Spill the beans!” Mika yelled over the phone, “Come on Sat!”

Satoru laughed and said, “Someone named _Drew Mapleton_ , I don’t know the name. It’s a white name.”

“Oooh, you’re gonna marry a white girl,” Mika teased with a giggle, “Maybe you’ll meet in high school.”

“Maybe,” Satoru shrugs, “I don’t really want to date right away though. I wanna get through high school, get a degree then I guess I can look for her.”

“That’s boring,” Mika complained but she soon changed the subject.

* * *

Sebastian couldn’t look. He avoided looking for three days until he accidentally caught himself staring at his hands and his eyes trailed down to the name in class. One glance was all it took, and he paled instantly.

_“Julian Larson-Armstrong.”_

He knew the name - everyone did. The American actor that even the French seemed to adore. Sebastian felt weirdly ill about seeing the name. Not that it was a boy, god knows he was gay and proud of it, but because he didn’t want to be in love with some actor, especially one that everyone in the world seemed to fawn over.

What kind of relationship would that be?

* * *

“I’m too scared to look,” Shane whispered to Blaine who was giving him a kind look.

“It’s okay, you don’t need to look,” Blaine reassured him, “I can tape your arms up and you can look when you’re ready.”

“I want to know, I’m just scared,” Shane said.

“Have some courage, Shane. It’s alright - whoever you have, I’ll keep you safe, okay? If it’s a boy, we won’t tell dad. We can lie like I did, tell him it’s some generic girls name and he’ll be happy. If it’s a girl, we can figure out how you feel about it.”

Shane was shaking a little as he kept his sleeves over his arms. Then he took a deep breath and looked at his right wrist.

_“Micah Randall.”_

“I-it’s a boys name,” Shane breathed quietly, glancing to his other wrist just for confirmation that nothing was there but then froze when he saw the second name.

_“Reed van Kamp.”_

“Blaine… there are two names, why do I have two names?”

* * *

“ _Merril Portman_ sounds like a cute name,” Sydney says to her brother, “Spencer and Merril Willis.”

“Stop,” Spencer blushes but he can’t stop the smile on his face. It did sound nice. Merril Portman. That’d be his wife one day.

“Who’d you get, Syd?” Spencer asks then, not wanting to linger too long on his own name when Sydney had yet to announce hers.

“I didn’t get one,” Sydney shrugs, trying to remain cool and composed.

“What?” Spencer was shocked, “Are you lying to me? I swear to g-”

“I’m not lying,” Sydney says as she makes eye contact with him, “I didn’t get anyone.”

* * *

“Are you sure it’s all real?” Todd asks his sister for the tenth time that morning, following her around and looking for the answer she refuses to give him.

“Yes, Todd, it is! Now, will you stop!”

Todd frowned at her then said, “But it’s a boys name!”

“So? You’re gay, congratulations. _Thomas Houston_ is a normal-sounding name so at least you’ll fall in love with a normal kid, we know this family needs it.”

“But I don’t _want_ to fall in love,” Todd protests, “And not with a boy!”

Trinity just laughed and put her hand on his shoulder, “Calm down, Toddy, it’s going to be alright.”

* * *

Wes had two names, and unlike all the stories he’d heard about each name being on both wrists, his were both on the left wrist.

_“David Sullivan.”_

_“Daniel Abbot.”_

His dad was going to kill him. Not only were they boys, but they were also _two_ boys. He’d have to continue the legacy of adoption if he wanted to have sons, and there was enough trouble just with _him_ let alone another generation of non-blood relatives.

Fuck.


End file.
